The Evolution of Tupac Shakur

Originally given the name Lesane Parish Crooks when he was born on June 16, 1971, in New York City, he was later given the name Tupac Amaru Shakur a year later. His mother was Afeni Shakur and his biological father was William Garland. His stepfather later became Mutulu Shakur.

Pac’s biological parents, stepfather, and godfather, Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, were all members of the Black Panther Party in New York. His godmother, Assata Shakur, was a member of the Black Liberation Army.

In high school, Shakur attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he was taught acting, poetry, and other creative arts. This is where he met future actress Jada Pinkett and the two became close friends.

He later moved to the Bay Area in California in the late 1980s. This is when he started to record his raps and went under the name MC New York. It was during this time that he met his future manager Leila Steinberg while taking her poetry classes in the area. She’s the one who got Pac signed by Atron Gregory, who managed Digital Underground.

Tupac later became a hype man and backup dancer for Digital Underground, a hip–hop group based out of Oakland. This is when he changed his name to “2pac.” He would also make appearances on songs from the group, most notably, “Same Song” which was a single that was on the soundtrack for the 1991 movie, Nothing but Trouble.

Tupac dropped his debut studio album, 2Pacalypse Now, in November 1991. While the album did not sell many albums initially, it did include some good songs, the most popular being, “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” This album introduced Pac to the rap world as a solo artist and showcased his ability to make enjoyable music that touched on serious and important topics in the Black community.

Two years later, Shakur dropped his second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z… The record was a much bigger success compared to his previous record and included some of the most popular songs Pac has ever released such as “Keep Ya Head Up” and “I Get Around.”

That “Thug Life” on his stomach wasn’t just for show. In 1993, Pac created the group Thug Life with other West Coast MCs. In 1994, they released their only album, Thug Life, Vol. 1, and although it wasn’t too popular, it featured some great Pac songs including “Bury Me a G,” “Pour Out a Little Liquor” and “Str8 Ballin’.”

The two young MCs initially became friends when they met in 1993 in California. They could be seen socializing with each other throughout the years and even recorded two songs together, “House of Pain” and “Runnin’ from that Police.”

As his career as a rapper was starting to take off, he never forgot about his skills as an actor. He appeared in a lot of beloved movies in the 90s including Juice, Poetic Justice, Above the Rim, Bullet, Gridlock’d, and Gang Related.

In October 1993, Pac was arrested in Atlanta after he shot two off-duty Atlanta police officers. Shakur was charged with aggravated assault and one of the officers was charged with firing at Pac’s car and another admitted to taking a gun from an evidence room. The charges were eventually dropped on both sides.

Pac was charged and eventually convicted on two counts of first-degree sexual abuse after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in November 1993, along with two other men. Although he was let off on three counts of sodomy, the other counts were enough to send him to prison, where he was sentenced to 18 months to 4.5 years. His sentence began in February 1995 and was released in October of the same year after Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight was able to organize the posting of his bond.

This is where the relationship between 2Pac and Biggie went south. While in New York in November 1994, Pac was asked to stop by Quad Studios in Manhattan to record a verse. When he arrived, he was shot and robbed by three men in the lobby. Shakur suspected a setup. Days after the shooting, Shakur showed up to hear the verdict in his sexual assault case in a wheelchair.

Pac’s third studio album was released in March 1995, as he was in prison for sexual assault charges. The record was beloved by fans and critics alike and made Pac a nationwide star. The song featured one of Shakur’s most vulnerable and emotional songs ever, “Dear Mama,” which was meant to honor his mother.

After he was released from Prison, Pac was an immediate signee of Death Row Records and started working on his next studio album.

Pac’s fourth album is easily his most popular. It was hip-hop’s first double album and featured a myriad of dope records including, “Ambitionz Az A Ridah,” “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” “California Love,” “All Eyez on Me,” and “How Do U Want It.” It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 selling more than 500,000 copies in its first week. The record was eventually certified diamond in July 2014 for selling more than 10 million copies.

While in prison, Pac married his girlfriend Keisha Morris. The marriage was annulled less than a year later. He later started dating the daughter of Quincy Jones, Kidada, up until he was fatally shot in September 1996.

What else is there to say? Pac did not like Biggie at all and basically, any and everyone that was affiliated with East Coast rap. Although he had plenty of shots for Biggie, he went at Bad Boy Records, Diddy, Chino XL, and Mobb Deep. No debate, Pac made the best diss track ever with this song. Some of the lines aren’t even appropriate to repeat. Just listen and you’ll understand.

There’s so much that happened the night Pac was murdered. The short story is that Pac was in Vegas to attend the Mike Tyson fight in September 1996 with Suge Knight and other associates. He later went to Suge’s nightclub. When they left the club and stopped at a red light, a car pulled up next to the Suge and Pac was in, and started firing shots rapidly. He was shot four times and later pronounced dead days later after internal bleeding.

There have been so many posthumous albums released after Pac was fatally shot. The first one was The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which was finished before he was murdered. It was released in November 1996 and featured the singles, “Hail Mary, “Toss It Up,” and “To Live & Die in L.A.” This album was much darker than his previous releases and included insults at many prominent MCs. Seven more posthumous albums would be released after The Don Killuminati

To this day, Pac is still celebrated and loved by many in the music world. He’s considered to be one of the most influential artists of all time because of his ability to be honest, genuine, and emotional. He was just given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year.